Wish of humanity
by DaniaShan
Summary: A little fanfic dedicated to the Saga of Darren Shan! Unlike the others I wrote, with many more hilarious situations!
1. Chapter 1

** Wish of humanity **

_**- Chapter 1 : - **_

_My name is Darren Shan, and till not much time ago I used to be a boy like many others. I used to have the interests of all the teenagers my age: football, comics, music, movies and, naturally, girls. But, more than any other thing in the world, I used to adore spiders. Yeah: when it happened to me to see one of these splendid eight-legged creatures, I used to stop watching at it and admiring it, charmed, it didn't really matter if it were a common little spider or a poisonous tarantula, ready to bite! And I was even able to remain watching its legs and little eyes movements, so slow but graceful, for hours and hours! Now, I'm not so keen on them anymore…and it isn't hard understanding why. You would hate spiders too, if one of them had changed your life for ever. And for the worse, much worse!  
I sigh, thinking once again about how much everything happened to me is incredible, and I put down my makeshift pen that I hold among my fingers. I ask once again if, in someway, it might be only a terrible nightmare, and if so, I hope I'll wake up soon. But I know perfectly that it isn't so. Whatever happened to me, it doesn't belong to the dreams world, even if I wish it ardently.  
Even I find it hard to believe it, but it's so.  
I feel a burning sensation in my fingers, and I notice they're full of little and pointed wood splinters. They sting and burn like mad when I move and I bend my fingers, in the attempt to make them come out, but more I do it, more the fragments penetrate in depth.  
I clench my teeth and I try to remove them, using the points of my nails and my teeth, like they were thorns . It doesn't seem working very well: many break in the attempt and at the end it seems even that they're more in depth than before!  
I lay a serie of imprecations, and I have again a look of the paper sheet I'm writing on. It's a page of my diary, striped, just a bit spattered of yellow in the corners (maybe because of all the humidity it got during the journey) and very far from the original white colour. But it's already a luck having a piece of paper to write on, here at the Mountain. And what about the pen? Well…I had to built it by myself, with a small hollow wood stick and some juice of soft fruits , found in the little wood in the vicinity.  
Maybe the ink is a bit too fluid and it tends too much to the red, but it answers the purpose. But I have to always pay attention to not let it come out too much, and to not let loosen too much the piece of string that tightens the extremity of the pen. It's quite uncomfortable, but unfortunately I have to adapt. My last pen with true ink ended many weeks ago….how much I wish I found the way to make a little of it!!  
With these thoughts in my head, I bend down, I hold again the pen and I start to write again. Here it is again the scent of juice coming out from the point, following my hand's movements, and I write quickly, following the flow of my thoughts. I'm so concentrated on the writing, that I don't notice anything that's going on around me , I forget where I am, about the humid and cold walls that surround me, about the dusty floor, I continue dragging my feet involuntarily on and about the two torches hung above the ramshackle table I'm leaning on.  
- Darren? What are you doing sitting there?  
I literally make a jump from the stool, and I turn with my goggled eyes and a confused expression. Even if, judging by the voice, it seemed to me it were…  
- Larten! I didn't hear you arriving! How the hell have you…  
- He he… - he giggles. – At last you should know that we vampires can be silent and agile like felines, if we want.  
- Yeah – I say, calling myself silly because I had so afraid.  
Yes, you've understood well…it's what I am. Or rather…what we are…all of us, here at the Mountain. A vampire. Or rather, a half-vampire, I mean, how it says even only the word, vampire only for an half. I can still going out at the sunlight without any consequences, but I need blood to survive to. Oh, no…don't form strange opinions! We vampires aren't at all like legends paint us. Most originated from our blood cousins, the vampaneze, that, unlike us, always kill their donators. And it's also for this reason that there is bad blood between us…in the true sense of the word!  
- What's the matter? – I ask.  
- Nothing…I was only wondering where you were, you disappeared since a while.  
- I was there, in Kurda's studio, where he prepares maps...I fancied updating my diary a little. I don't think he minds if I use his old worktable, right?  
- Why should he? – he smiles. – Kurda is even too kind, he is not annoyed even from things he should! Your diary? – he adds, coming up to me to have a look.  
- Yeah…do you remember? It's a notebook where I note down what happens to us, my thoughts and my emotions – I say, turning it again to show him better, paying attention to not bring the pages too close each other to not smear the still wet ink.  
- What does it say of cool? – he asks.  
- Wait, I'll increase the power of the torches, so you can have a peep of it. – I say, standing up to regulate it.  
- Erm… - he says, becoming suddenly red. I can notice that perfectly, despite the semidarkness. I halt, looking at his eyes.  
- To tell the truth…I cannot read, Darren. – he reveals to me, looking away.  
- What?!? – I answer, gaping for the amazement.  
- It is so.. You know…when I was your age, reading and studying was not considered essential. Only few had the luck to being able to do it, and to afford learning. – he answers, with a touch of embarrassment in his voice.  
- But…but – I stammer. – How is it possible? You can sign! You can understand the road signs, and…  
- Yeah, but understanding a more complex test or writing one myself is all another story!  
I continue to fix my eyes on him, amazed. He never told me about that before! I'm literally astonished.  
- And…if I teach you how to do? It isn't all that hard, after all, it's only a question of practice and… - I start saying, with excitement.  
- Do not worry about that, Darren. These are things you have got to learn when you are very very young. And it will always come naturally to you…but you do not imagine either how much is complicated at my age…and I have already found out at my own expense. I thank you, anyway. It is really kind of you…but maybe we vampires do not really need knowing how to read, after all. Only few of us can do it. But till one of us will be able to, we will be OK. It is always useful, most of all for the relations with humans. – He says. But then he sighs.  
- Really I wish I had learnt….I feel a bit silly for that, sometimes. – he sighs again.  
- If only you would have insisted a little more… - somebody else says behind us. This time it's Larten's turn to have a start! I nearly have a start, too.  
- Kurda! When will you learn to knock? – I giggle.  
- It's a bit hard knocking, seeing the lack of doors! – he answers, with a radiant smile.  
- Don't tell me that…it was him your teacher? – I say, surprised by how much this possibility is incredible. (Kurda and Larten can't stand each other!) and smiling at Kurda's joke. He always manages to put me in a good mood, with his optimism and his wish of living. Sometimes I wonder what does a person so…sunny like him in a world so gloomy like vampires one! And why he decided to join us…it seems being so…out of place, sometimes!  
- You have always been perspicacious, Darren – Larten confirms.  
- But…not!! Is it possible? – I say , giggling, and casting an incredulous glance at Kurda.  
- And why didn't you insist? I mean…the willpower of a vampire is incredible, if I'm not wrong?  
- You aren't – Kurda answers. – We tried…but it wasn't easy since the beginning. First of all, I didn't have the impression Larten was all that so anxious to learn, after all. It seemed he always had his head in the clouds…and…distracted? – Kurda says, casting a malicious and allusive glance at Larten.  
- He he… - Larten giggles, and his face becomes red, even more than before.  
In the meantime I'm more and more astonished. I believed they couldn't stand each other…but now they were acting like they have always been friends!  
- He…yeah, they were glorious Arra Sails's times! Awww, what a couple!! You should see them, Darren! They shined, in the true sense of the word! – Kurda smiles.  
Larten returns the smile, embarrassed. But he says nothing.  
- I know, it seems incredible…but the vampire so sage and sensible you see know, Darren, used to be one of most impulsive and bungler of the whole clan! And you can't imagine how much things he did , how much he had a great time when he was young! - Kurda says, smiling even more.  
We all burst out laughing. Me more than the others! I never lingered over thinking that even my mentor, so wise and calm, might used to be young and unskilled, like everybody else!  
I imagine him chasing Arra, with a bunch of red roses of bramble in his arms, and with many little hearts around his head, like in the comics! And I burst out laughing again, I almost double up by the laughing. Doing it, I put an hand on my belly, but I immediately withdraw it, grimacing with pain. The splinters still hurt.  
- What's wrong, Darren? – Kurda says, stopping laughing and looking at me with a solicitous expression.  
- Ouch…yeah, to tell the truth, I've some wood splinters stuck in my hand. – I answer, shaking both of them, trying to mitigate the pain, and clenching teeth to not shout.  
Kurda bends down to examine them better, the long light blue cloak on the dirty floor.  
- It's an ugly affair…how did you get them? – he asks.  
In the meantime Larten comes up to us.  
- Writing… - I say, with a bitter smile. – The pains of we cultured men! – I say, blinking at Larten. He answers with a bad glance.  
- It seems you've been in a carpentry, not that you've written! – Kurda says, perplexed.  
- Can I know what pen have you used? – Larten adds.  
- That. – I say, indicating with my head the worktable I left it on.  
Kurda stands up and goes getting it.  
- Is that a pen?!? Where did you get it? – he asks, casting an amazed glance at me.  
- Yeah…well, to tell the truth I made it by myself, here at the Mountain they aren't very common objects… - I sigh.  
- But you could ask me, Darren! I have a drawer full of them, look! What do you think I draw my maps with? – Kurda says, going near a dark wood desk and a moment after holding in his hand at least ten ball pens!  
- Do'h! I can't help exclaiming, looking at Kurda's hand! It seemed he were just come out from a stationery shop!  
- Eh…Darren, Darren…all that nice raspberry juice – Larten says, - Who knows how delicious…  
While I go closer Kurda to choose some pens, I hear him saying:  
- But go on, Larten, Darren shouldn't be reprimanded. On the contrary, he preferred managing on his own, it would be only to praise. An initiative and an independence fit for a true vampire!  
I'm flattered…really!  
- Maybe… - he limits himself saying.  
In the meantime I go off, holding the pen among the creases of my cloak, to not get other splinters, and I return a while after with three glasses full of juice. To tell the truth, the pen is enormous, it almost grazed my chin when I was writing, so the juice he contained was a lot.  
- Do you want some? – I ask, with my lips already red.  
- Of course! – Larten and Kurda answer at the same time.  
For we vampires soft fruits, so warm and juicy, are a delicacy, almost as much as blood. But we would avoid with pleasure to drink it, if it weren't necessary.  
We bring the glasses closer to our mouths and, when I drink from mine, I make out though the glass Larten and Kurda clinking glasses.  
- Your health! – they say. And they drink.  
I smile seeing them getting along so well, for once, and I join the toast, shouting with joy._


	2. Chapter 2

**Wish of humanity**

**- Chapter 2 : -**

_Here I am again. This time I'm writing lying comfortably in my hammock, on my stomach and shaking my legs in the air frenzily. And with a very handy ball pen. Well, red. Who knows why, since I had...changed, I adore this colour. I miss a little that delicious scent of soft fruits that used to spread all around each time I wrote, but I console myself casting a glance full of gluttony at the glass of juice leaned near me, that seems waiting only to be drunk and tasted.  
I scribble some words, then I read them again, and I turn the page, lazily. I don't fancy writing, not now.  
I turn on my side, and in the darkness I see two green small lights: Harkat's eyes, my roommate.  
I can't get to sleep. I'm confused.  
I don't understand what's happening to me. I'd like to make a note of something else in the diary, even if I don't feel a lot like writing, just to kill time and hope that in the meantime I feel sleepy. But it's like the pen offered a strange resistance, and only after a while, having a look at the sheet, I notice that it's like I didn't write at all the last lines!  
Instead of the usual red trail, only deep ruts. I press uselessly the point against the yellowish paper, with strenght, holding tightly the plastic pipe full of ink to warm and dilute it, but doing it I let slip a groan of pain. The splinters! Kurda, eventually, forgot to take them away. We were distracted by joking and laughing, and even toasting, and it completely slipped our minds.  
Pressing the wounded fingers a little more strongly was enough to arouse the pain, as intense as fire and implacable. I shake my hand, trying to get rid of it, appealling to all my willpower to keep myself from shouting. If I had done it, I would awake the whole Mountain! I curl up, waiting for the pain to be over, with a grimace of pain on my face and trying to concentrate on something else.  
- Darren...are you...OK? - a croaky voice says in the darkness.  
I start, sillily and surprised, but I immediately recognize it.  
- Yes, I am, Harkat...about. - I lie. At that moment waiting for that piercing pain to ease it's my only worry.  
- I don't...think...so... - he adds.  
And he's right. The grimace my face is still twisted in speaks by itself.  
- No, indeed. I don't manage to sleep, and I hurt my hand recently, too. - I say to him. Harkat stands up from his hammock, and he comes up to me slowly. Then he bends down, with still his hood on, he examines my hands, without touching them, only skimming and looking closely at them.  
- Ouch...they must...hurt...to death...right? - he asks me. - It was...because of...that...that you...were groaning... before...is that...so?  
- Well, yeah. I hope to have them removed, tomorrow. - I add, shaking again my hand.  
- How did...you...stick them...in your...hand? - he says, surprised.  
- In a sense, it was because of my love for writing. - What...?!? - he adds, with his big green eyes even more wide-open than usual and full of amazement. I tell him everything.  
- If you...had known...from...before...that Kurda had...what you...needed.  
- Oh no...don't tell me it! - I add, thinking again about it.  
But now, even if only a few hours later, I cannot help finding the whole thing funny. We both laugh our heads off. In the end, Harkat goes again to bed, he says goodnight, he turns on his right side and he falls asleep almost immediately. Even if his eyes are always open and lighted, even when he sleeps, I notice that easily: his breathing has become slower and more regular. I turn over too in the hammock, trying to fall asleep. But it's useless, after I had turned over a dozen times at least, I don't feel the need for sleeping yet. On the contrary, I'm awake like a cricket! But not because of the splinters pain, that has already eased, there is something else that worries me. I decide to stand up and going to take a stroll through the Mountain, maybe also to get a breath of fresh air. Once I've stood up, I look round to remember where I left my stuff before to go to sleep, and I prepare myself. I trow my light blue cloak on my shoulders, then I join the two edges on the chest, closing them making a bow on the front. I find also my boots, still a bit muddy and damp. Some days have passed since our arrive in the Mountain, but I had never took care to give them a clean. I decide I would have seen to it as soon as possible. After that, I leave the room, moving quietly to not wake Harkat up, and I set out through the corridors. I carry on tiptoeing, because also the other vampires are sleeping. I can hear even the slight snoozing of some of them, the only noise that disturbs the silence of that moment. Waking them up wouldn't certainly be a good idea!  
I try to remember which side the entrance of the cave was situated, and, even if I'm not totally sure about it, I take a humid and tortuous tunnel. After some minutes, I find out I was right: that tunnel really leads outside! But it wasn't the same I had walked down with Larten and Harkat when I arrived there, that other was much longer and broader. This other, on the contrary, it's so low that I fear I might have to crawl, at the end, but fortunately bending slightly my head is enough to not knock my head against the rough and dropping ceiling.  
After that, I bend down to the ground and I slip though a little opening, with a rather disquieting shape, like a mouth ready to swallow me, but broad enough to allow my passing. And here I am outside! I glance around: I'm on a rocky projection, very high, slippery and rather humid, but it shouldn't be all that hard getting down from it. Holding on firmly to the rock, and relying upon my nails, I climb down slowly, looking over my shoulder and trying out carefully each move. I hope to not let go my hold suddenly, because of the splinters, that burn again like pins, but I manage to resist. And, after a while, here I am ashore.  
I'm a bit tired (even for a half-vampire like me climbing with my bare hands isn't a simple thing!) and I let myself fall on the grass, soft and wet, to get my breath.  
Laying down, I'm covered in icy little drops: it must had rained recently. Feeling them gliding on my face and on my arms, cool and fast, it's pleasant, it gives me a sense of freedom. The air is fresh and bracing, and there is also a slight breeze. I breathe deeply. But it isn't very cold. Or, at least, I don't feel it. The clouds run fastly in the sky, pushed by the wind, and brightened up by the red and golden reflections of the sun that it's going to set. Also those nearby mountains reflect the colours of the sunset.  
With my arms crossed behind my head, I watch the sun going down, till the only thing that remains of it isn't anything else that a reddish reflection in the night sky. And, looking at the sun, suddenly, like a flashing in my thoughtful mind, here it is flash of inspiration: I understand at last the reason of my unhappyness. The smile I used to have on my face since a moment ago immediately disappears, and another one, serious and disconsolate takes the place of it.  
It must be very similar, if not even the same, to the one I had when, some years ago, I left for ever my family, my city and my friends, to follow Larten through the world. Here they are again the memories, I feel the painful memories re-emering, cropping up again, crowding themselves on each other in my mind. And also a feeling of chill in my heart, of solitude and sadness. But also remorse, and, most of all, nostalgia. But I don't totally understand yet what I'm feeling: I believed I had already got used to my new half-vampire life. But evidently it isn't so.  
In the distance, probably not further than a few kilometres, I hear some howlings. How much I would like that Streak or Rudy were beside me now...I wouldn't feel so lonely, with them by my side and the humid Rudy's nose, always active. I would like to join their chorus, howling like a wolf to give free play to my emotions. I'd probably feel better, after. But I don't do that. I sit down on a rock among the grass, my knees in front of my face, and I put my arms on them, bending my head. Suddenly, a gust of wind stronger than the others sends a shiver down my spine, and I cover myself better with the cloak, shivering. A lot of little seeds fly in front of me, at the mercy of the wind. An image crops up again in my mind: I imagine my mother covering me with a protective gesture, to avoid me catching a cold. And then also Annie, my sister. How many times we had been together in the country, playing with butterflies, chasing crickets, or being after ants to keep them away from the foodstuff for the picnic! I shut my eyes, and, with a groan, I realize with terror what I miss so much: a little of normality. A little of...humanity.  
I would give everything to spend again some days like a normal boy: playing football without being afraid of breaking someone's bones, enjoying the sun without feeling that sensation of extraneousness, having again some friends without fearing that they find out that I'm a vampire and they hate me for that. But I know that it isn't possible, it would be too risky for everyone. I can only limit myself to...dream. To wish it. My life has took a turn that divided me definitively from humans word, and there is no way of coming back. The die is cast. A tear of impotence, silent and hot, flies with the seeds, falling on the cloak and leaving a dark blur. I move slightly my legs, under the point where it fell, in the attempt to get warm a little. Now that also the last daylights disappeared, it's again terribly cold, like during our journey to the Mountain. Neither I know what believing anymore, what's better for me and for everyone. The outward cold is the same in my heart. Despite I've found some new friends, I continue feeling...empty. And, immersed in my thoughts, I bend again my head, and I remain sat down on the rock, letting that the wind ruffles my hair and raises my cloak, and shivering with cold. Suddently, I feel a warm and reassuring touch on a shoulder of mine. Somebody is touching me. It's good feeling something of tepid among all the iciness that surrounds me. I turn, and I see the bony and wrinkled Larten's hand, leaned on the cloak, and slapping me on the back in a reassuring way. This time I don't start. On the contrary, in a sense his presence takes me away from those gloomy toughts, even only viewing him I already feel better. But how could he know where I was? Did he hear me getting up? Or maybe it was simply time to get up and he decided to look for me, because he didn't find me in my room?  
Anxious to find answers to these questions, I try to turn towards him and standing up, resting on my hands, pulling them on the rock and forgetting once more about those damn splinters. Ouch! I clench my teeth, but I manage to not shout. I decide to remain sat, for the moment. - Darren... - he starts. - What are you doing out here? I thought you were still sleeping.  
- I...I couldn't get to sleep. - I answer. And, doing it, without I can do anything to avoid it, another tear glides silently along a cheek. I can't prevent my voice to shiver. Maybe because of the cold...or the sadness. Larten, hearing these words, sits down beside me, with a worried expression on his face, putting an arm round a shoulder of mine. He's wearing his cloak too, dark red and dusty like usual, and he offers me it so that I cover myself.  
I nod to him, to tell him that it isn't necesarry that he does that for me, but he limits himself to nod. So, I trow it on my shoulder. It's much heavier than mine, and I immediately feel better. But Larten remained with only his shirt on, and I see clearly that he shivers, despite he forces himself to hide it. I'm surprised by that gesture so generous and paternal. - Thanks... - I say.  
- But it is nothing. - he answers, modest. - But tell me...there is something that worries you, Darren. I noticed that from the tone of your voice, and from how you react when I arrived. - he says. - What is wrong?  
- Nothing. - I lie.  
- Yes, on the contrary. Would not you feel ashamed in the least of talking to me about that, right? - he says, pretending to be scandalized and smiling with a smart expression. - No...I mean. - I say. - To tell the truth, there is something...it isn't worth talking about it...You can't help me.  
- How can you be so sure about that if you do not try?  
- I... - I add. I swallow. And, at the end, I make up my mind, and I tell him everyone. I was reclutant to talk about it, because I didn't want that he thought I was a nostalgic and a whiner, but I can't keep it to myself and eventually I find myself to share with him all my thoughts, my emotions and sensations of a while ago. He listens without batting an eye. And when I've told everything, he answers, with his usual calm and imperturbable expression. - Darren...you must not feel ashamed of it. It's a very normal thing. Even me, even after so much time since my blooding, sometimes I feel nostalgic thinking again about the good days spent as human. There is nothing strange, on the contrary, it would be freaky, even worring, if you did not miss them at all! Believe me, you do not have to worry about it. It is a problem common to all the vampires.  
I look at him, astonished.  
- But it's so...hard - I add. - What I would give to return human for a while.  
Larten then scratchs the long scar on his cheek, like he always does when he reflects upon something. Suddently, a discreet smiling lights his face, and he says to me, with a cheerful expression:  
- Maybe we may do something for you. It is not totally true that you can enjoy never again those little human pleasures you miss so much. Most of all because you are still a half-vampire and.  
I prick up my ears, anxious to hear the continuation. A gleam of hope rekindles in my heart. Suddently, I'm not cold anymore. On the contrary, the warmth under the two cloaks I have on it's marvellous.  
- Come inside, before - he stops. - Here out in a while everything will be frozen. It isn't certainly the better place to discuss about it - he says, standing up with a shake. I follow him, althought I don't feel cold anymore. We climb up again the rocks, and we return to the Mountain along the same way we entered though the first time, escorted by the sentinels. The way through I went out from was probably too narrow for Larten. - What, what? - I ask, impatient, while we walk through the tunnels, with the only guide of the bright moss. - I was thinking... - he says. - The Council will start only in a few days. In the meantime, we might even go on a trip round here. In the vicinity, much nearer than you believe, there is something of really special, and I bet you will like it a lot!  
Hearing him talking in that way doesn't do anything else that increasing my curiosity! I'm anxious to learn more, and I follow him merrily, like a dog that wags his tail would do.  
- What? - I repeat, like a parrot, with the voice full of morbid curiosity. - We have arrived. - he says, almost ignoring me.  
- But...what?! - I insist, unable to wait even only another moment. Larten doesn't turn a hair in front of my insistence, even if thinking again about it now, I believe I had been rather annoying. But it's normal being it, when the question is something of so important. Everybody would be! - It is a bit complicated to explain. - he makes up his mind to explain, at last, sitting on a bone chair in the common hall. - I am not an expert about climatic changes and things like these, but each vampire knows that the Mountain is so high to have an huge influence on the climate of the whole region. Like you would have noticed, on this side the cold is intense all during the year, and it is not exactly a comfortable place. I nod, shivering at the thought of the cold on my skin. If even we vampires shudder so much, out there, that cold for humans must be simply intolerable! If not mortal! I remind I've still on Larten's cloak, I remove the buckle that keeps it close and I give him back, with a thankful smile.  
He nods, returning with a kind smile, and he continues from he was. - Have you ever wondered what there is on the other side of the Mountain?  
- No... - I admit. - On the contrary...there is another side?!? - I say, opening my eyes wide.  
- Like I have already said, the cause of this icy climate, I would dare saying almost polar, it's just the Mountain. If it weren't, we would overlook directly on the ocean.  
- The ocean?!? - I say. I'm amazed. I would never thought that there might be something else, behind that Mountain so massive. It was so high and stalely that it seemed that the world ended there. It never crossed either my mind!  
- Yeah. I know it seems incredible, and only a few vampires know, but not so far from here ocean waves are shattered continually against a very sandy beach, almost tropical.  
My amazement raises.  
- And beach means... - I add, with bated breath. - Sun...life...humans. - he ends for me. - Everything you lost, all that you miss so deeply.  
I hold again my breath. The idea to go to the beach, to enjoy again the sun like everybody else and maybe also swimming makes me euphoric. The thought to take a little holiday at the sea is so incredible that I don't dare even believing it's really possible. I open my mouth, with a smile full of joy. I try to add something, but I stop, coming back to the reality.  
- But...how to get it? Are you willing to come with me? Alone wouldn't be the same thing...but you can't stand the sunlight... - I say - For you it would be a regular torture! - We will talk again about it in a few hours. Don't worry about it, for the moment. Now rest. You're going to be ready to drop. I realize he's right. I didn't notice to be going to fall asleep stood up, and that my eyelids were so heavy. I'm surprised once again by how Larten always guesses my mood and my condition. For him I'm like an open book. I have no secrets!  
- Ok... - I say, calm. Then, suddently, I throw my arms around his neck, in a transport of joy, letting him astonished. I'm incredibly happy, it's wonderful having again something to hope for, knowing that your own situation isn't all that desperate, after all. I sink my face in his velvet cloak, rubbing my chin against it, like a purring cat.  
Larten returns caressing my back and hugging me too, with affection. When we tear our selves away, I greet him and I return to my room. Harkat is still sleeping, and I pull off my boots silently, to not disturb him. Exhausted, but happy, I lay down on the hammock, that never seemed to me as comfortable and relaxing like at that moment. I don't take even the trouble to take off my cloak, althought it's a bit wet: it will be my blanket. And I feel asleep immediately at once, holding the cushion with a sweet smile and, at last, happy, on my face._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Preparations**

_  
I open an eye of mine, slowly, but I immediately shut it again, sinking my face against the cushion again, and pressing close to it with a groan of pleasure. Even just only opening an eye seems to have required an incredible effort…and what sleepiness! It's so good indulging against something so soft and relaxing! Am I really so tired yet? How much time did pass since I fell asleep?  
During that short instant, I had glimpsed some dark shadows around me, grey and confused, like if they were shrouded in the mist of a dream. Maybe there was someone beside the hammock? Or it was just a dream?  
I'd like to sleep a little more, the warmth of the cushion and the cloak I got entangled in during the night is marvellous, but what time is it? And who was there (or still is) near me?  
So, fighting against the weight of my eyelid, I open again my eye, even more slowly than before.  
But, as soon as I start to see something again, I open it wide, with my other.  
And I immediately let out a scream of fear!  
Something of shapeless, with an unreal phosphorescent green colour and bright was a little less than two centimetres far from me!  
- Aaaaaah! – I shout, pulling back by instinct, pushing behind frenzily with my feet and wriggling among the folds of the cloak. My eyes staring, the stare terrorized, the back against the rough and rocky wall. My feet are still moving, in the attempt to make me move away even more, even if I'm already with my back against the wall, and they can't pushing me behind more. Unless I'm a ghost…and so I'm able to pass through walls like if they didn't exist…but unfortunately half vampires can't do it! But neither adult vampires can, to tell the truth!  
I hold tightly the cloak with my nails, like if thrusting them in it could be useful somehow to defend myself from that mysterious assailant.  
My sight is still blurred, and I realize with dread that I'm totally defenceless, in my aggressor's mercy!!! I feel the panic starting to clamp me in his vice, my heart hammering at my ribs.  
- Aaaaaah!! – the mysterious thing says, with a surprised tone, and I glimpse it running away from me.  
Hey…wait a moment. – I think. – If that thing wanted really to hurt me, why did it shout? Why did it run away? For the surprise, maybe? Didn't it expect I react? Or…  
I start to breathe again. I blink again, making an effort to bring into focus what I see. And, as it becomes more distinct, I let slowly go the cloak, and I open my mouth in a smile of amazement and relief.  
- You are…always…on the alert…like all…the vampires, eh…Darren? – Harkat says, peeping out from behind a brown rock, not much far from here.  
It was only Harkat!!! How could I not think about it? After all...how many phosphorescent green things I had seen since that moment, apart from his eyes? Not many...or rather, none!  
I sigh with relief.  
- You gave me a start!!! - I answer without drawing breath, giggling like silly, a little because of the relief, a little for relieving the fear. My heart's beat start to slow down, my breath is returning slowly to its normal rhythm.  
I run an hand of mine on a naked arm, but I'm still having the creeps!  
- Me?!? - Harkat says. - You...in case! Have you...any idea...about...how long...have you...slept? - he adds.  
- Actually...no - I admit. - How long? - I ask, even already guessing the answer.  
- I'd say...so!...More...than a day! - Harkat says, panting. - I had came...near...to look at...you...and check...if you were...still...breathing...I was...very worried. I had also...told Larten...and Kurda...they...know a little about...medicine...to come...immediately and... - he adds, by now out of breath.  
What?!? Did I really sleep so much? What the hell I did I do to get tired that way?  
I sit on my bed, trying to remember. I strolled out of the Mountain while all the others vampires were sleeping...Larten had came to look for me...and...the holidays at the sea!  
Thinking about them, a happy smile appears on my face.  
Was it only a dream? It was too wonderful to be true.  
Yes, it must be necessarily so. How can it be otherwise? The smile of a while ago turns to a disappointed and sad expression, resigned to the harsh reality.  
I'm going to get up, helping myself my arms, when I feel the cloak, still humid, rubbing against my skin. Humid? So...I've been really outside! And if I've been really outside, probably...  
Only the thought is enough to wake me up completely, to make me realize that in reality I'm more rested than ever!  
I leap to my feet, euphoric. I take the cloak and I fold it, putting it near the flame of a torch so that it gets dry faster.  
- I'm sorry I made you worried. - I say, with a sorry tone, turning my head to look at Harkat. - But...the fact is that...wow, if only you knew! - I add, changing totally the tone of my voice, beside myself with joy, and turning round.  
- What...? Can I know...too? - Harkat adds, coming up to me with his step slow but decided, curious.  
- It's incredible, you will never believe it! Larten told me that...  
And I tell him everything. When I've finished, he's literally beside himself with amazement, too.  
- A tropical...beach...just a few...steps from...here! Who would ever...have imagined...that? - he comments on.  
- Maybe, a good climatologist! - someone says, with a cheerful tone, behind me.  
I make a jump, so high that I almost touch the ceiling, still afraid for before. Harkat has the same, natural, reaction, even if his jump isn't as high as mine.  
We both suddenly turn round.  
- Kurda! The doooors! - I say, shouting, seeing him just a few steps from me, smiling like usual. Harkat smiles too, displaying his irregular and sharp teeth.  
- You're alright, then! - Kurda answers, with a relieved tone. - Listening to what Harkat had told me, it appeared that you had fallen in a state of lethargy or kinda of!...  
- Darren has always liked sleeping...is not that so, sluggard? - Larten adds, behind him, with an allusive tone.  
I cast a withering look to him, pretending to had taken offence of it. If there is someone really lazy, that one is he! I perfectly remember how he mumbled when he had to get up before the sunset and how much he would have liked continuing to sleep all the night!  
But I smile, glad to see him again, passing wisely over it.  
- Good morning! - I say, cheerful.  
- Good night, in reality...but for we vampires it's like it were day, don't forget about it! - Larten corrects me.  
- Phew, what a pedantic! - I rebut. - As far as I know, when you get up you always say "Good morning", or I am wrong?  
- Yeah, but if you could have a glance outside, you certainly would not see the sun shining high in the sky! - he insists.  
- So...I said it properly... or not? - I say, confused.  
- Yes, you did. - he answers.  
- And then...why did you correct me? - I add, even more perplexed than before.  
- To see if you were paying attention. - Larten says, smiling with an astute expression. - And to see if the thought of that great trip is already keeping you miles away from here.  
- Hey!!! - I say, resentful. - But what...!  
- What was the matter with you? - Kurda says, interrupting me and nipping a possible back answer of mine in the bud. - Harkat was very very worried, he told me that despite he has shaken and called you repeatedly, there was no way to wake you up and...  
- I've always been an heavy sleeper... - I say, blushing.  
- Heavy sleeper...is an...euphemism! I believe that...neither...an atomic bomb...would have woken...you up! - Harkat says, intervening playful._

- And I know something about that... - Larten says, with a subtle tone. - If only you knew what a hard work waking him up to go round at night, sometimes!  
- Erm...nothing of more interesting to talk about? - I say, trying to change the subject, blushing more and more.  
- Wait a moment, thinking about it better, there is something. Did I hear well, before? Beach? - Kurda says, looking at Larten with a perplexed expression, opening his light blue eyes wide, that shine with perplexity in the gentle light of the torches.  
- Yes, you did. You know what I mean, right? - he answers, blinking.  
- What? That one...? - Kurda says, beside himself with surprise.  
- Do you know another ones?  
- You'd like to bring Darren there? But it's impossible! As far as I know, nobody has ever attempted to get it by here, everybody has always bypassed the mountain, even at the cost of losing weeks and...  
- Are you not the expert of maps, alternative ways, roads and so on?- Larten says, pulling his leg.  
- Yes... - Kurda says. - but I...  
- You have understood well...would you like to come with us? How would we do without your guidance and your incomparable experience? We would ended up by getting lost though the snow-covered steppes or by slipping in precipices hidden by the snow! Or who knows what else! - Larten adds, flattering him.  
I can't help a silly smile. Kurda smiles too, and he answers:  
- I know you're only pulling my leg, but I don't know...I've been rather busy recently, you know. The ceremony...and all the rest...  
- Ceremony? - I say, without managing to hold back my usual curiosity.  
- Yes...Kurda will be soon one of our leaders, a Prince! Didn't he tell you? - Larten answers me.  
- Now that I think about it...yes, he did, but I forgot. - I admit. - So...you can't come with us? - I say, looking at him with a sad expression.  
- Mmmmh...thinking about it better. - he says. - It might be one of my last opportunities to have a great time, before to become a Prince. It's a big honour, but it isn't certainly the greatest of the fun! Many years may pass before I get out of here again, and before I put away the crown and the royal cloak for a while! - he adds, smiling.  
- Hooray! - I say, tripping round him. - I bet you know a short way to get it, isn't that so? You must know it! - I add, more euphoric than ever.  
- Maybe... - Kurda answers me, smiling at my enthusiasm.  
- What about you, Harkat? The sun isn't a problem for you, right?  
- No...if you want...I can come...too...if I don't...disturb you... - he answers me.  
- But...are you joking? Disturbing? Quite the opposite! - I say, bending to hold him in a warm hug.  
- He is really happy. And how blaming him? - Larten says, turning to Kurda.  
- I know how he feels...believe me, at that age a little is enough to get carried away. We went through it too, do you remember? - he answers.  
- Of course...even if it seems that centuries has passed! - Larten laughs.  
- Isn't that so, maybe? - Kurda smiles!  
- He, you are right! The time flies!  
- I was wondering if Gavner would fancy to come with us, too...can I go to ask him? - I interrupt them.  
- Go, if you want...but be careful, he's even lazier than you! He gets violent if you wake up in a bad way...and too early! - Larten warns me, blinking.  
- Hey...!  
- Go on, Darren, don't take it badly! You know he isn't serious! In the meantime, I'll try to find the map we need for the journey. OK? Who knows where I've put it...actually, I haven't the faintest idea, but I suppose that digging it up is only a question of patience! And we vampires' patience is proverbial, but it will take me for a while anyway, I fear.  
- Hurry doesn't help! - I answer him, happy, and I run to look for Gavner.  
- I'm starting to talk using proverbs too, like Larten does? - I ask myself, perplexed.  
My steps resound in a sinister way in the almost desert corridors, it must be still early, but I don't mind it. At that moment, I feel like if the Mountain were always my home, nothing seems to me strange or abnormal anymore. Neither the bats that every now and then flit above my head, nor their shrill cries or the webs as thick as curtains in the corners. After some minutes, here I am at Gavner's. I peep inside his room.  
The lid of his coffin, dark and shiny, is open, and he's already awake. He's stretching, yawning soundly.  
- Hey, good morning! - I say, joyful.  
- Hello Darren! Is it alright? - he says, with his mouth still wide open because of the yawn and his eyes shut.  
- Of course! What would you say to a trip at the sea? - I say.  
Gavner open his eyes wide, and he glances at me in a strange way, like if he thought I went crazy.  
- At the sea ? Are you sure you're fine, Darren? - he answers, perplexed.  
I expected that, so I get my breath and I start to tell him:  
- Yeah, let me explain you...me, Larten, Kurda and Harkat had decided to pay a brief visit to the beach near the Mountain, before the Council begins.  
Then I add, with a sadder tone:  
- You know...I miss a lot the world of humans, and even if for Kurda and Larten facing up to the sunlight definitely won't easy, they decided to do it anyway, just to not let me down...and to see me smiling again. - I say, thinking again with emotion about the huge sacrifice that my friends were going to make for me.  
- Do you know about the beach? - he interrupts me.  
- Sure! So...do you fancy that? - I say, impatient.  
- And...there is need to ask it? Of course! - he says, smiling with pleasure and getting up.  
- It's just what is needed, after all this intense cold. And for the sun...well, we'll try to do something. You can't get everything from the life!  
I smile, and I hug him tight, leaving him out of breath.  
- Hey...go on, Darren, it isn't necessary...  
- Well, let's prepare! I can't wait! - I say, very excited, tripping round him and coming back to the cave that is supposed to act as my bedroom. Gavner follows me, infected by my enthusiasm.  
For all the rest of the night, we see to the preparations for the journey, and also to obtain everything is necessary, not only for me, but also for the vampires. Larten and Kurda offer to help us, and we agree with enthusiasm. Harkat gives an hand as he can, too. While I was at Gavner's, Kurda came back, with a heap of maps held in hand.  
- Here they are, the damn! - he says. - They slided behind a piece of furniture, I almost went mad to find them!  
- Your studio looks like a bazaar, sometimes! - I giggle, thinking again about that little room with rolled up maps placed everywhere, and with pens, white sheets and instruments abandoned all over the place. The first impression you had when you enter there, was that someone had turned a fan on at the greatest power, and he had created that mess on purpose, making the sheets fly all over the room!  
- He, being tidy has never been my forte! - Kurda says, giggling too.  
Larten, in the meantime, has got five small haversacks, similar to bags, to bring on our shoulders. He has also some mats and coloured towels, a bit worn-out, but big enough to be able to wrap oneself up in them or lying down on them comfortably.  
- Where did you find them? - I ask him, curious.  
- I've my resources - he smiles. - Or rather, Seba has them.  
- Is it a crowded beach? - I ask Larten, while he's thrusting a coloured towel in a bag.  
- Not really. - he answers. - But someone will be there, no doubt about that. It's better trying to go unnoticed, then.  
- And don't forget about these! Without them...it will be a mass barbecue! - Gavner says, laughing, entering the room suddenly. He holds in his hands a couple of white little bottles. I take one, and I read the label, curious.  
- "High protection solar lotion, for newborns with sensitive skin. 50." I read.  
- You can never be too careful, right? - Gavner says.  
- And where did you find those, Gav? - Kurda says, amazed.  
- Eh, God forbid that only because I'm a vampire in the human world I remain all the day shut up in a coffin to sleep! I've never accepted this slavery of ours! So, when I felt like going out, I smeared little of it all over myself, and I ventured outside. Of course, you're a bit in a pain anyway, but for a short time it's perfect...  
- You've always enjoyed impossible ventures, you daring! - comments on Larten.  
- Why, this one isn't? - Kurda says, bended down on his bag.  
- I'd say...not - Harkat adds, while he pulls the little lace of his haversack.  
- But we vampires are born for challenges, right? - I say, smiling and looking ad them, happy.  
- I see you start to understand thoroughly our lifestyle, Darren. - Larten adds. - Of course, as a rule, when we say "challenges", we mean much more than that, but also this one might be considered like a venture to not undervalue.  
- And what about these ones? - Gavner says, flourishing something under your noses.  
He has in his hands five pairs of sunglasses, all very dark, and as smooth as glass. In the latest fashion!  
- Cool! - I say.  
- Gavner, you're a strolling bazaar, or what? - Kurda says, more and more astonished.  
- He he, I stocked up on them. It's better if we vampires are never lack tha sorts of things, right? - he smile, with a sly expression.  
- I imagine so! - I smile.  
Knowing that Harkat and me are the only ones that don't suffer at all from the sunlight gives me a strange feeling. The worst thing may happen to me is burning myself a little or fainting because of a sunstroke, like everybody else, even if I've never had a sensitive skin, while on the contrary vampires would even risk to die if they stayed at the sun too long, and the direct light is a terrible pain for their eyes, too. Form the expression of his green eyes, I understand that Harkat agrees with me, and he feels sorry for them.  
We continue to prepare ourselves, playing and making jokes, till everything is ready. I check again the haversacks, making me sure to not have forgot anything. Towels, caps, solar lotions with a very high protection power, sunglasses, even a inflatable ball that Kurda had found abandoned in a store, that now sticks out with a bulge from my bag.  
- What about the beach umbrella? And the clothes? And the swimsuits? Won't we need all these things? - I point out...  
- Sure. But it's better buying them there. We certainly aren't the only "tourists", if we can be called this way. It isn't the first time I go there, and, if my memory serves me well, there is a little store that sells all these things. Let's try only to not look too eccentric. - Larten says, taking off the red cloak he cares about so much. I do the same with mine, even if grudgingly, and Kurda imitates us. I take a glance at what we're wearing: me a sandy long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of jeans a bit worn-out and full of stains, Larten a checked white shirt and dark trousers, Kurda a shirt with a blue tie and light purple trousers, Gavner a yellow shirt and a pair of trousers at least two sizes bigger than his. Harkat, that before had on his usual tunic, has put on a shirt Gavner gave him, a cape completely let down on his face, and a pair of shorts. He looks almost normal, only if someone had looked closely at him he would have noticed the strange colour of his skin.  
We all have open sandals, and we all wear the peaked cups (that Gavner had given us)  
- I'd say we look all right! - I say. - If we get changed there, nobody should notice how we look a bit...like foreigners. - I giggle.  
- May the luck of the vampire's be on our side! - Kurda says, playful.  
- Let's go, then! - Gavner says, eager, slapping Kurda on the back and throwing the bag on his shoulders.  
We're off!  
We set off towards the exit of the Mountain. Larten ahead, Gavner by his side, Kurda and Harkat follow them, with a slower step, whistling cheerful. I'm the last, skipping happy behind them, and reaching Larten with one leap, casting once more at him a glance full of thankfulness and enthusiasm, that he turns back with a warm smile and ruffling my hair jokingly. 


End file.
